Introduction
God It is so hard being back in this freezing wet weather. I think Perth waited for us to get home to really bring on winter, perhaps it just seems that way after so long in the wonderful warmth of Bali. I guess we all feel a little down after we return. Back to the routines of running the house, work, bills etc.
This is the first instalment of my JBR's. I do not intend to list everything we did in order or everything we bought and how much it cost. There is plenty of good information in the archive for all that stuff. We ate at some wonderful restaurants and I will list them all later with a few impressions, likes, dislikes and whatever. I hope to give you our experiences under a series of headings like VOA, hotel, day trips, bad experiences etc and I hope you will find something useful that will help make your next trip more enjoyable. This is also my first attempt at a JBR so please forgive me if I ramble on.
The pupose of my reports is to tell you what WE thought of Bali. We were four very different people experiencing two wonderful weeks together. I am going to report our impressions warts and all. If I offend at any time it is completely unintentional. Not that I plan on being contoversial or damning to anyone in any way. Please don't waste your time flaming me if I seem pollitically incorrect or off the mark, I will not respond. Sunnybanker once wrote a series of JBR's that are up there with the best I have ever read. He was percieved as being racist for mentioning a group of Japanese people behaving badly. He was flamed mercillessly by a core group of morons to the point that he gave up giving us what I thought was very valuable information.
Anyway now I have got that off my chest here we go.
What is it about Bali?
It's dirty, hot, smelly, busy, crowded, polluted and I absolutely love the place.
There is a special magic that defies reason or explanation (you know what I mean) the endless smiles are infectious. The constant pesterring is something you actually come to enjoy after awhile. It is a seething mass of humanity that just sucks you in and embraces you. Chatting with and getting to know the locals was something we all enjoyed. They seem to think I am some kind of stud or saint or something for fathering four children.
What made me very sad however is the fact that they seem to blame themselves for the tragic events of the bomb blasts. It's as if they feel responsible for not doing something to prevent it. So many people warmly shook my hand and thanked me for coming back to Bali. I can assure everyone that I have never felt safer anywhere. The world however has sadly changed forever and we will always carry that fear with us wherever we go from now on. Why do such a small minority of fanatics have to control our fears and emotions? You may say don't let them, but has anyone got on a plane since 9/11 without thinking about it?
I will tell you about our visit to the Sari memorial in a later report.
Who are we?
There was myself, my wife Margaret and our two daughters Tamara 23 and Careena 19 who flew out for Bali in 19th June for 15 nights. Our two boys David 21 and Michael 18 stayed at home and did a wonderful job of watching the fort while we were away. This was my third trip since 1999 and Margaret's fourth (she took her Mum in Oct 2001) Tamara and Careena were first timers having never even been on a plane before. It was a huge adventure for them and a great experience for us seeing everything through their eyes for the first time.
Careena financed the trip for Margaret and I. She was a bit of a rebel (a lot of a rebel actually) in her younger years and this was her way of saying thank you and sorry. What a wonderful gesture it was and we will be eternally grateful to her for her wonderful generosity. Tamara also paid a good deal of money for a very special day trip we did with Waka Louka – more on that later, but I have to say that we are truly blessed with four very special kids.
Stick with them through the troubled years, you will be rewarded, and I am not talking about holidays here.
Our forum
How could we live without the BTF? I did a lot of research before we left as Legian was not familiar to me. We have stayed in Sanur on previous visits and like that area but this time we wanted to be closer to the action for the girls. The information here is endless and I want to extend a great big vote of thanks to everyone here and the administrator of this forum for what has become an essential tool in planning a holiday to Bali. A few strange characters drop in from time to time but soon move on to annoy someone else. We have a number of ego maniacs who get up my nose occasionally. Mostly though we have a huge family of caring individuals who all share a love of Bali.
Legian by the way was fantastic, we loved it.
The flight
We flew Garuda and left right on time at 8am. I sat next to someone who was suffering terribly from travel sickness the whole way, not very pleasant for me but a hell of a lot worse for her I guess. The flight was otherwise uneventful and we got to Bali on time. The excitement from the girls was electric and wonderful to see.
VOA
We have all heard the nightmare stories about this one, ours was the complete opposite. I guess sometimes you just get lucky. We were off the plane directly behind business class passengers and through to our transport in less than 15 minutes. I could see the potential for long delays if there were several flights arriving at the same time but we just managed to time it to perfection. We were prepared for the worst but got a great surprise.
More to come
Cheers for now
Frank